


A Fallen Princess

by BookCat (NintendoNerd125)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Children, Chance Meetings, Gen, Jude Heartfilia's A+ Parenting, Jude and Gray are mentioned, Lucy joins Fairy Tail early AU, One Shot, Pickpocketing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27852450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NintendoNerd125/pseuds/BookCat
Summary: Jude Heartfilia is not an easy man to live with. He's an even harder man to have for a father. So, Lucy does what can be expected of any 10-year-old that's still reeling from the loss of her mother: she runs away.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel & Lucy Heartfilia
Kudos: 26





	A Fallen Princess

It’s been three months since Lucy’s mother died. Three months since any warmth and kindness her father had vanished and had been replaced with impenetrable cold.

She was in her room, perched up on her bed with her head on her knees. She was trembling slightly, doing her best to smother her sobs. She had tried to surprise her father with a treat, a rice ball she made all by herself to look like his face. He’d been working so hard lately and he’d been so sad since Mom died. Lucy just wanted to help him feel better. But, he slapped it aside and yelled at her to go away. And it was her _birthday_.

It wasn’t the first time Dad had done something like this, either. And, deep down, Lucy knew that it wouldn’t be the last. Ever since Mom died, Dad had been getting more and more stern and cold. This wasn’t even the first time this week that he caused her to break down like this. There was only one thing she could do now. A firm resolve spread throughout her, infusing her with steel. Slowly, she raised her head and let her legs down. She slid off her bed and wiped at her eyes, sniffling. She made her way to her dresser and picked up the key ring holding the Gate Keys she inherited from her mom. She examined them for a while before clipping them to a satchel she had nearby.

Lucy slipped it over her head and sighed before drawing herself up again. It wasn’t too late; there was still a chance that she could change her mind. Lucy loved the servants like they were family. She didn’t want to leave them. Plus, her house was where all of her memories of Mom were. But, staying would mean staying with Dad and his all-consuming cold.

Lucy _had_ to leave. She just couldn’t take it anymore. Besides, it wasn’t like she didn’t have any prospects. While she didn’t have many Gate Keys, she _was_ still a Celestial Wizard. Wizard guilds took in kids all the time. She’d just have to find one far enough away from the estate so that Dad wouldn’t be able to find her.

 _If he would even bother to look_ , a dark part of her mind whispered. Lucy chased it away with a shake of her head. She could angst later. Now, she had a plan to make.

* * *

It was night when Lucy left. The darkness provided a cover for her flight that she was thankful for. She managed to get away from the estate without alerting the security staff. Now, she was resting in a nearby forest. Of course, she’d have to leave soon, as her disappearance had most likely been noticed by now. However, that didn’t change the fact that she’d have to avoid towns for the time being, which meant avoiding train stations, which meant a _lot_ of walking.

Sighing, Lucy finished off an apple that she snagged from the kitchen before she left. She got up from under the tree she was sitting under and stretched. Winding her arm up, she threw the core as hard and far away as she could. Then, she headed into the unknown. While she wasn’t on her family’s grounds anymore, Lucy was still relatively close. She still had miles to go before she’d be able to sleep.

* * *

It’d been three weeks since Lucy ran away from home and she hasn’t heard anything about it. There haven’t been any missing posters, rumors about the Heartfilia heir going missing, nothing. Lucy didn’t know whether to be relieved or hurt that Dad apparently decided she wasn’t worth looking for.

She was in a town called Magnolia now, specifically one of its alleyways. It was a bustling merchant town, one that’s been prosperous since ancient times. She sat up slowly, stretching with a yawn. Dimly, she realized a bit of sludge got in her hair while she was sleeping, which she combed out with her fingers to the best of her ability. She dug out her satchel from its hiding place behind a dumpster.

She slipped her satchel on as she got up. Her stomach growled, causing Lucy to wince. She had run out of food a while ago. She had taken jewel with her for this eventuality, of course, but she had run out of that too, just last week. She had to resort to more unscrupulous methods to get her food since, which she hated. She could only imagine how ashamed Mom would be if she could see her now, a petty thief stealing to survive. But, she didn’t have much of a choice if she didn’t want to starve to death.

Lucy’s stomach growled again. She grimaced, but left the alley all the same. As much as she didn’t like it, Lucy had to pick _some_ body’s pockets unless she wanted to go hungry. She drifted in the streets, looking for a potential victim. It was hard, though. Magnolia was so prosperous that homeless people were rare, so Lucy got a lot of odd looks. The attention would make it hard for her to get to work.

Suddenly, a voice caught Lucy’s attention. In the park, a boy who looked like he was Lucy’s age was complaining to himself, waving his arms erratically as he did it, too. It looked like he was distracted, too. He probably didn’t have much money, but any food was better than no food at all.

Lucy picked her way down the hill and to the boy. He had a red shirt, a checkered, white scarf, and spiky pink hair. He was currently yelling something about a “stupid streaker”, which Lucy quietly decided she didn’t want to know anything about. She was getting closer to him, being careful to avoid his line of sight. Eventually, she was right on top of him. Dread slowing her down, she reached toward his pants pocket and-

And the boy turned around. Lucy froze, panic rushing through her veins. _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap-_

The boy’s eyebrows knit. “Who are you?” His eyes drifted towards Lucy’s hand, which was still hovering around his pocket, and then back towards her own and narrowed. “Are you trying to rob me?!” 

His hands caught on fire, which Lucy _definitely_ wasn’t expecting. The boy was a wizard- just great! She yelped and fell on her butt, desperately scrambling away from him.

She tried to stutter out an explanation. “I-it’s not what it looks like! Well, it _is_ … But you see-”

Another growl from her stomach cut her off, this one much louder than earlier. The boy’s glare softened and he looked her up from top to bottom, analyzing. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Lucy froze up, though this time was from surprise rather than horror. Ever since she ran away, nobody had bothered to ask if she was okay. They just didn’t care about some random homeless girl. Tears welled up in her eyes. “I… No. I’m not.”

The boy frowned in concern and approached slowly, as if Lucy were a scared animal he was trying to comfort. He extended a hand to help her up. “I’m Natsu. What’s your name?”

Lucy briefly studied Natsu’s hand before accepting it. “Lucy. Lucy Konzern.”

* * *

“So what’s your story, Lucy?” Natsu had taken her to a nearby restaurant and ordered a bunch of food, which Lucy was gratefully scarfing down. She could feel a good chunk of the patrons’ eyes on her, but Lucy just couldn’t bring herself to care. It was more food than she had in almost a month and it was so _good_.

However, she owed Natsu so much more than just a story that she stopped stuffing her face and swallowed. “Well, I’m a runaway.”

Natsu’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, seriously?!”

Lucy nodded. “My mom died a couple months ago and my dad sort of just... spiraled. He was already aloof to begin with but, after she died, he became cold and cruel. Eventually, I just couldn’t take it anymore and ran away. I heard wizarding guilds often take in orphans and other kids, so I thought I’d try my luck and see if I could find one that I could join. But I haven’t had any luck yet.”

Natsu tilted his head like a confused puppy. “Really?”`

Lucy blushed. “Yeah, I honestly don’t know where any of the guilds are located, so I’ve pretty much just been wandering around. I must sound pretty dumb, huh?”

Natsu frowned and closed his eyes. When they opened again, his eyes had a determined glint to them. “Wanna come with me?”

Lucy bunched her eyebrows together in thought. She remembered how Natsu’s fists caught fire in the park. “You mean… to a wizard guild?” Her voice took on a hopeful tone at the end.

Natsu nodded. “Yeah. I’m a member of a guild here in town. We take in all sorts of people! So, do ya wanna come with?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah!”

Natsu smiled what was probably the biggest smile Lucy had ever seen in her life. “Then let’s go!” He slammed down payment for the food and leapt off his seat. “Come on, Lucy!”

Lucy slid off her seat and ran after Natsu, who was booking it to the door. “What’s your guild called?”

Natsu looked over his shoulder and gave another one of his impressively huge grins. “It’s Fairy Tail!”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy isn't present as this takes place before he was born. Also, while writing this, I forgot that Lucy's birthday is July 1 while Layla died after July 7. I didn't feel like going back and correcting this little continuity error, so for the sake of the timeline, Lucy's birthday is different here.


End file.
